Sweeter Than Chocolate
by JuzFics
Summary: "Ugh... Sometimes I wish I could spend just one day doing absolutely nothing and gorging myself on sweets!" - Well, why not? [fem Byleth x Edelgard]


Early in the morning, minutes before the day would start in terms of lectures, Byleth walked into the Black Eagle classroom, finding no more than three students there waiting. Four, if one would count someone who is asleep – technically present, yet not quite. The other three were no surprise to see ready for class so early – the Adrestian princess who, would Byleth actually make a ranking, clearly would be at the top of the class, her seeming shadow Hubert and Ferdinand who probably figured being not present at least at the very time Edelgard is, he would lose their one-sided competition.

Making her way to the front, she stopped at Edelgard's seat, making the student look up from the book she's studying – ever the diligent girl.

"I'd like to see you after classes today for a singular assignment," the teacher plainly stated, her tone leaving not much of a choice. Not that Edelgard would have objected. Looking at Hubert, she added for clarification: "Alone."

"And for what reason?" Naturally it rose suspicion of her intentions to emphasize his presence being supposedly unwarranted.

"It's a matter of girls," she responded, her unreadability coupled with this secrecy not exactly seeming most trustworthy.

"It's fine," Edelgard interjected before Hubert could pry further. "There is no reason to mistrust our teacher, and I'm sure it won't take long."

"It won't," Byleth promised.

= Afternoon =

"Say, my teacher," Edelgard started as she pushed her professor's room's door closed, "What is the _real_ reason you asked me here this morning?" She didn't feel the slightest bit anxious, even with a white lie such as this Byleth' mere presence was overly calming.

"Remember our talk lately?" the teacher fumbled around in a bigger bag, to draw a smaller bag out of it. "Mercedes, from Blue Lions, gave this to me before classes today." She handed the bag to the princess so she could inspect it for herself.

"It's… chocolate," she noticed, confused, before returning the small bag.

"Thought I'd share," Byleth smiled at her student, trying to jog her memory – with success, if Edelgard's expression was any indication.

"Thank you, but Hubert would not—" The princess began but caught herself short by realisation. _'Not approve,'_ she finished in her mind. Exactly the very reason this was meant to be private, so that he would not find out. "You remembered?"

"Your wish to indulge yourself in sweets just once?"

"…Yes. That. And Hubert not being fond of this idea for my own good, as well as you promising me such a day despite that," Edelgard sighed, slightly caught off-guard by her teacher's thoughtfulness. "However, I can't. I'm sorry."

"Why not?"

"For once, they were made for you, not me. And even if that was not the case, I really shouldn't." Such a fairly weak argument and the visible longing for cocoa-flavoured sweetness in her amethyst eyes betrayed her verbal refusal more than it did support it.

"Would you rather let them go to waste?" A small push, just to offer an excuse to give in. It was fairly obvious that it was no big amount, not unreasonable for a single person to finish on their own.

"I suppose that would be rude," Edelgard treated carefully. Not a no, neither a yes - the push seemed just a tad too small, yet the current argumentative position was more than inviting for a much more direct approach.

"Mhmm," Byleth complied. "Which kind do you want?" Luckily for her, it seemed like every imaginable kind in the spectrum from dark to white chocolate got at least a single piece made by the skilful girl from the other class. Whatever Edelgard's taste, she would be easily able to oblige.

"…if there happens to be any white chocolate," the princess muttered. She knew she lost this battle; her professor was simply no opponent she could overcome just yet, or possibly ever.

Just as reluctantly asked for, Byleth gladly handed her student the kind of chocolate she asked for – white as her platinum strains. Just an elegantly small bite of the piece moved the corners of her mouth up a bit, as she let the sweet good - that contained such a lack of cocoa that it hardly could be called chocolate anymore - slowly melt in her mouth, getting the most out of the taste for the longest time possible.

"It has been so long since I had a taste of this," Edelgard openly smiled, which turned into a slight frown in a split second after she saw her professor's seemingly mocking smirk. "What is it?"

"I wouldn't have expected this," Byleth simply stated, a little disappointed that she only got to enjoy her student's adorable happiness over something as minor as a small piece of chocolate for mere seconds.

"Is it so wrong for me to enjoy something very sweet once in a while?" The princess pouted, cutely so. This was definitely not what Byleth was getting at, not even close.

"Not at all," the teacher shook her head. "In fact, I can relate to that taste," she added, putting one of the darkest pieces of the bag into her mouth.

"Dark chocolate is not very sweet," Edelgard pointed out, slightly confused.

"I'm aware," Byleth agreed. "I was not exclusively referring to chocolate." She smiled at her student yet again, her blue eyes meeting amethyst. Half a moment later, the princess seemed to have gotten the implication, averting her teacher's gaze and slightly flushed cheeks being a clear indication of that.

"I am afraid Dorothea may be a bad influence on you, my teacher…" The princess sighed; she did certainly not expect this level of smoothness from her teacher of all people. Also, she did not exactly share the notion that she should be called "sweet".

"I wonder," the teacher hummed. "I was just stating the truth."

"So, would you say you would prefer _me_ over a piece of chocolate?" the student boldly asked, placing the remaining half of her white chocolate into her mouth, absolutely not expecting her professor to rather answer with action than words. In hindsight, as Byleth was not the most verbal person in the monastery, Edelgard should have expected this.

Softly grabbing the student's wrist with one hand to pull her close in a swift motion, wrapping her other arm around her waist to then close the distance completely with a kiss as sweet as the taste of sugary white chocolate that still lingered on the princess' lips, Byleth caught her student off-guard yet again. Edelgard, on the other hand, was not sure what was melting faster: the piece of chocolate in her mouth, or herself in Byleth' embrace.

She would never be able to find out, as the teacher easily managed to sneak her tongue into Edelgard's mouth as though she subconsciously invited it, both of their saliva mixing with the tooth decay inducing aroma of the easily completely molten chocolate, creating an intoxicatingly sweet taste.

For a lack of oxygen on both sides, the two girls broke the kiss, the lingering sweetness a not too subtle reminder of the intimateness they just shared, inviting them to go further.

"My teacher," Edelgard breathed. Confused, anticipating, anxious – she wasn't at all sure how to feel, or rather which emotion was the strongest in the pool of all the things she felt in this short moment. The one thing she knew for sure was that she felt warm, and content.

"Call me by my name," Byleth ordered, softly but dominant, walking the student towards her own bed, before firmly pushing her down on it.

"Byleth," the princess obeyed, the soft pressure from the mattress against her back along with her teacher leaning over her suddenly making her feel so vulnerable, helpless. As if noticing the fear in her student's heart, Byleth leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Tell me to stop if you don't want to," she offered with a warm, open smile. She wouldn't mind, nor think less of the imperial princess should she reject these advances. But did she want to reject them?

"I am…not sure," Edelgard admitted, feeling ashamed of her indecisiveness. At the very least, she should be able to know what she did or did not want.

She did feel ridiculously attached to her teacher, and in this very moment, more than ever, she absolutely _wanted_ her in every possible way as well. On the other hand, she was well aware that this would be nothing but a fleeting moment of escapism; eventually, this bridge would have to be burned as well. There was no way around that, not for her.

If it was a happiness that she would come to taste only to lose it and be doomed to miss it for the rest of her life, she would rather not experience it in the first place. Such a clear thought, yet just the warm breath of the person she cared about more than anyone else on her cheeks made her knees go weak, and her mind start to give less priority to reason.

Maybe, just this once, maybe it was worth to give in to the warmth of the one person who shone brightly in the darkness that was her life. Maybe she should just let it happen, maybe there was hope that, once her teacher would learn the truth, she would not reject Edelgard.

"Please," she casted her doubts aside, hoping her spontaneous courage would not be regretted as foolishness later. "Continue."

Byleth didn't need to hear those words twice, she knew what her student needed, and wanted the most – and that was just her. And herself she was more than happy to give to the imperial princess.

= Evening =

"Thank you, my teacher," Edelgard said sheepishly, straightening out her uniform as she reached for the door knob. "I mean it."

"For the chocolate?" Byleth teased, her implication so lacking in subtlety that even the densest rock would have caught on.

"I wonder," the princess smiled, before bidding her professor good night.

* * *

**AN:** Did you know I have a Twitter? Feel free to follow - juz_fics


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